Isolated indigenous peoples face extinction

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Almost half of indigenous communities living cut off from the world face extinction within the decade due to logging, mining and tourism, the non-government organization Survival International (SI) warned Monday.

“We really want the world and particularly governments and industries to recognize and address this as a global emergency,” Survival International’s executive director Caroline Pearce told a press conference in London, attended by United States actor and long-time supporter of indigenous peoples Richard Gere.

Some 196 peoples and groups, referred to as “uncontacted” due to their desire to live voluntarily isolated from other human societies, have been identified in 10 countries, according to SI’s report.

More than 90 percent of them live in the Amazon rainforest, mainly in Brazil, but groups have also been recorded in Indonesia and India.

“The threats to almost half are so severe that they could be wiped out in the next 10 years,” the report warned.

The Kakataibo community of Peru’s Ucayali region faces one of the most uncertain futures.